


When Paths Cross

by AfricanSpaceQueen



Series: A Cruel King Reigns [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Depression, F/M, Fluff, References to Depression, Sad Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Soft Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:56:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28247277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AfricanSpaceQueen/pseuds/AfricanSpaceQueen
Summary: Levi Ackerman was a notorious thug in The Underground City whose only goal was to one day find a way to live above surface with his two friends.  When a messenger for a certain figure approaches him and his crew to ask them to take on a job to steal documents from Squad Leader Erwin Smith of the Survey Corps, and possibly end his life, Levi takes up the job.  Iman Agrinya is part of the last remaining Black families living in the walls, who joined the Survey Corps in hopes of running away from her past and to find purpose in her meaningless life.  What happens when an Underground City thug and a bold and reckless soldier meet?  This is the story of two people who were somehow destined to meet.
Relationships: Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: A Cruel King Reigns [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2069205
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've rewritten this fic several times because I didn't like how I started the chapters so hopefully this is the last time I delete my fanfiction altogether lol.
> 
> This fanfiction starts in 844 which is the year Levi joined the Survey Corps and it follows the events in the No Regrets manga. I will mainly follow what the manga has written but I might also follow some of the scenes from the anime adaptation of the manga.
> 
> As you can see by the summary of the fanfiction the main female character is a Black woman and obviously in the original Attack on Titan world the only poc in the show is Mikasa, who is half Asian and half White so in order to make my main character fit in a logical way there are other Black families who live in the walls, and they are considered some of the last to exist within the walls.
> 
> And last but not least this fanfiction will touch on some heavy topics such as depression, self harm, suicidal thoughts and things like that, especially when it comes to Levi's sake. I want to be as realistic as possible in terms of how I write his character and how he would react to certain situations and cope with certain feelings. I will always put a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter if I do touch on topics like that.
> 
> And I almost forgot...I very much welcome and appreciate comments, even if they're just suggestions. It helps me get better with my writing which in turn makes this fanfiction more enjoyable for my audience!

850

As Eren approaches Captain Levi to tell him that he's finished cleaning the areas he was told to clean he can't help but feel extremely nervous, to the point where his legs are starting to shake. He's replayed how he would start the conversation a million times in his head before he dragged himself to talk to the captain. He sees the captain standing by an open window with a piece of cloth covering his nose and mouth, while wearing another piece of cloth that covers his hair. _Here goes nothing_ Eren thinks to himself as he approaches Captain Levi. 

"I'm done with the upstairs sir," he says. The captain turns to look at him with the two pieces of cloth still covering his hair and half his face. Feeling a little bold he goes on to ask Captain Levi a question. "If I may...um where will I be sleeping sir?"

"Your sleeping quarters are in the cellar," Levi says removing the cloth covering his nose and mouth. _The cellar? I'm sleeping in the basement again?_ When Eren says this out loud the captain simply responds by saying "Our safest option." Ah yes because he's a newly discovered titan shifter and everyone around him can't seem to understand that he's still technically human and because of this they've treated him like he's a monster who is bound to cause destruction if no one keeps an eye on him. The captain explains that if his powers go haywire and he accidentally turns into a titan while in the basement they'll be able to subdue him easily and it wouldn't cause that much damage to the castle they are currently occupying. Continuing his little talk he tells Eren to take over cleaning this area while he checks on his previous cleaning job. All Eren manages to say is "Yes sir" before watching the tiny captain walk out of the room.

"Don't look so discouraged Eren," a soft female voice says. He's startled and turns around to see Petra standing there with a broom in her hand.

"Did I really looked discouraged or are you just saying that?" he asks the short friendly woman.

"Everyone acts that way. Up close and personal Captain Levi doesn't seem like the hero he's prepped up to be," she responds. "For one he's a lot shorter than what anyone expected, and temperamental too." 

Eren shakes his head slightly before continuing the conversation with Petra. "It's not that I'm just put off by his seriousness. He's so dead earnest about following the higher ups orders and rules. He never really seemed like the type to follow orders."

"There was a time when he probably would have lived up to that expectation. I don't have all the details but the story goes that when he was younger he was quiet the rouge before joining the Scout regiment," Petra says looking at how Eren's large emerald eyes widen at what she says. "No one really knows what brought him here but," she continues as she whispers to Eren, "they say that the commander and the captain had something to do with him being here."

Eren instantly thinks about the pair of mismatched dark and light brown eyes that belong to none another than Captain Iman, rumored to be third behind Captain Levi in terms of titan kills and strength. What did she have to do with the captain's past...


	2. Chapter 2

There were very few people within the Survey Corps who knew the actual story of how he ended up joining the Scout regiment. Of course there were little rumors spread here and there about how he was a mysterious rouge who roamed the cities of the Underground, which wasn’t too far off, but only a handful of soldiers within the Survey Corps knew about the full details regarding his recruitment into the military. Like many things with Levi he has chosen to bury these events and memories into the deepest parts of his brain, locked away for eternity, to not be thought about for even one second. No matter how hard one tries there is only so much the mind can take before it cracks, the way that a teacup shatters when it falls to the ground. 

In the aftermath of his first expedition he rarely slept. It felt like every time he closed his eyes he would be met with Isabel’s severed head, fear etched onto her young and beautiful face, and Furlan’s half eaten body, who’s face showed no fear, only serenity, which seemed very much like Furlan. He could see how some of the other soldiers were beginning to pity him after they realized that his two friends were no longer around him. Hanji had tried unsuccessfully to try and talk to him and looking back he should have been grateful that she tried to comfort him, but he was new to this environment, and he had no intentions of joining the scouts. He only went along with this because his little trio was promised a good life in the capital, far away from the violence, poverty, and despair felt in every corner of The Underground City, but rich people were only good at one thing, and that was cheating people out.

Hanji hadn’t been the only person to try and comfort him after that disastrous first expedition. He remembers sitting outside one night, when everyone had been getting ready to retire for the night, when he suddenly felt someone’s presence nearby. He turned his head slightly to see Iman stop her approach, and her odd set of eyes, blinking at him before continuing to walk near him. He had glared at her but she wasn’t fazed by it, ignoring his hardened steely grey eyes.

“If you value your life you’ll stay away from me,” he threatened her. Iman kept walking and Levi growled slightly. “Are you deaf or something? I just said-“

And suddenly his rough hands were being held by her soft hands, and he felt something being placed in his hands. He glanced down to see two bloody and dirty Wings of Freedom patches in his palm. He looked back at her confusingly staring into her mismatched eyes. Ever so softly she said, “I only came to give you this. You have something to remember them by, that’s all.” She walked away and that was the beginning of the ever growing relationship between Captains Levi and Iman, two individuals whose paths were meant to cross with one another.

  
  
  
  
  


Levi wonders sometimes what would have happened if they hadn’t gone through with the deal. What if they had turned the messenger away and turned the deal down? He was skeptical about the entire thing, stealing documents for a rich noble, if possible assassinate the man they were to steal from, and they would be promised a life in the capital. It sounded too good to be true but nonetheless Furlan pleaded with him and they accepted the offer. They would let Erwin Smith come down into their hell hole and recruit them into the Survey Corps, and when the opportunity came they would carry out their plan. 

The day that the messenger had approached them felt like any normal day for the trio. He could hear Isabel and Furlan going back and forth about something while he focused on cleaning one of his knives. Suddenly a knock came at the door and they all went still. Levi narrowed his eyes as he slowly stood up.  _ Who would decide to show up here of all places?  _ Turning to face Isabel and Furlan he nudged his head in the direction of the door, signaling for Furlan to get ready to open it, while Isabel stood back in case she had to assist them. Levi clutched his blade tightly in his right hand and stood across from Furlan as he nodded at him to open the door. 

When the door opened he expected to see some old goons standing there but instead it was a man dressed in a cloak that hid most of his face except for his piercing black eyes. The man put his hands up to show that he was not armed nor meant any harm to them. 

“What do you want and make it quick because I don’t have time,” Levi said, narrowing his eyes at a man dressed in a cloak that hid most of his face except for his dull black eyes.

“I’m a messenger from a certain figure, let me speak plainly,” the man responded. “A man in the Survey Corps named Erwin Smith is trying to capture you and enlist you in the army.” 

The air in the room was tense as the three of them looked at the man in the cloak with utter shock. Levi was ready to slam the door in the man’s face but Furlan, seeming to see what Levi wanted to do, grabbed his shoulder and shook his head. Levi clenched his teeth and glanced at the man, letting him continue his little speech. 

“If you entered the Survey Corps, we would want you to steal a certain set of documents from him,” he continued. “And if possible end his life.” Levi let out a scoff as he went to take a seat by Isabel. What a joke. Did the man honestly think that they would be dumb enough to believe this type of nonsense? Why would a proper citizen bother coming down to The Underground to have three criminals take on this job. Even a fool would know better than to take this route. 

“Did being so far from the sun start messing with your shitty head? Why would anyone believe that type of crap?” Levi leveled at the man. 

“The reward for completing the job is cash and the right to live in the royal capital.” Levi wanted to growl and throw the man out. He really did take them as jokes. 

“That’s even more suspicious. Why don’t you go back up and we’ll all pretend that we didn’t hear anything that came out of your shitty mouth,” focusing on cleaning his knife again.

“Wait Levi let’s hear the man out,” Furlan spoke. Levi stared at him incredulously. What exactly was Furlan trying to do? Levi didn’t want to hear anything else come out of the mouth of this mysterious man. It was a complete waste of time in his opinion but nonetheless he let Furlan continue. 

“We simply cannot respond right away, you understand that right? All of this is just so sudden. Let us consider your offer,” Furlan told the man in the cloak. The cloaked man stood silent for a couple of seconds before turning to leave and telling them to let him know of their decision by tomorrow and to not utter a word of this to anyone. With that the man left the trio alone. Levi turned to Furlan and crossed his arms over his chest. 

“You wanna explain why you didn’t just let me decline his offer?” Levi asked.

“We need to know who this ‘certain figure’ is,” Furlan responded. Isabel who had been surprisingly silent this whole time jumped in. “You’re not actually gonna do it are you?”

“Think about it you two,” Furaln began. “Putting money aside we have the right to live in the capital. It’s unthinkable that anyone from The Underground could live up there.”

“But if we do get those documents we’ll end up being the next targets” Levi told Furlan. 

“So we’ll get the documents, find this ‘certain figure’ and use those papers to blackmail him.” Levi stared at his friend for a couple of seconds before scoffing. 

“Do you think those pigs are honestly going to care about a threat from The Underground let alone us?” 

“It’s worth a try Levi. This is our one chance to finally get out of here.” 

Maybe he should have told Furlan no at this moment but the idea of living above surface, no matter how suspicious the deal sounded, seemed too good to pass up at the same time. He had spent his entire life in this bottomless pit of despair. He had gotten used to the putrid smell, the corpses lying in alleyways, the violence that seemed to be lurking around every single corner. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t wonder what it would be like to breathe fresh air, or not have to worry about where your next meal will come from. Levi had stopped dreaming or having hope many years ago but he was a calculative person and if this was their only chance to make it out of here, no matter how difficult it might be to carry out this plan he would go through with it. 

And that’s how it went. They accepted the deal, met with the cloaked messenger once more to go over more details, and the trio waited for the Survey Corps to make their move. The days they spent waiting were fairly normal and rarely exciting. One day he found himself, alongside Isabel and Furlan, being chased by people in green capes, who appeared to be using ODM gear. He thought it was the Military Police as he began weaving his way around pillars and under underpasses, ignoring the shouts from an angry merchant whose goods were knocked to the ground by an excited Isabel. These individuals were too skilled to be a part of the Military Police. Levi managed to get a look at the cape of one of the people chasing him and his two friends and it all began to make sense. What he saw were the famous wings of freedom symbol on the back of the capes. These were the Survey Corps. 

He needed to find a way to lose the scouts. Although they were supposed to be recruited by them he wouldn’t go down without a fight, and the last thing he needed was for them to find him, Isabel and Furlan at their hideout. He glanced at his two friends and they nodded at him, understanding what needed to be done. Isabel took a sharp left at a turn while Furlan took a sharp right, leaving Levi to go straight ahead, with three soldiers on his tail. Giving himself a boost of gas he found himself flying over the rooftops of buildings, jumping in and out of the windows of abandoned buildings and going underneath laundry lines. As he lowered himself on the ground he found it odd that it was quiet and that the three soldiers who were after him were nowhere to be seen. Maybe he did lose them he thought to himself but as he turned around he was met with a tall blonde soldier charging at him. He quickly grabbed the soldier and threw him onto his back. Sure enough the second soldier came right at him and he was surprised to be looking at a brown skinned woman who was charging at him with full speed. It caught him off guard for a moment as she went in to punch him in his face but he quickly dodged it and threw her onto her stomach before shooting his grappling hook into a building to escape. 

He stood there for a couple of seconds checking his surroundings making sure that no one was tailing him. Levi hoped that Isabel and Furlan were doing alright. He trusted that they would find their way out. Suddenly a third soldier intercepted him at top speed as he went to eject his grappling hook into the wall of a building, and was pushed into the side of a building knocking the air out of his lungs for a second.

In the distance Levi could hear a man’s voice saying “You brought him down Erwin?” and a woman’s soft voice asking “Are you alright.” Grabbing his knife from his boot he lunged at the blonde who had knocked him into the wall and for a brief second he saw fear in those blue eyes. He disarmed his blade before the second blonde stepped in to stop him from causing any harm. “Look around you,” the man said to him and sure enough Isabel and Furlan were both in the custody of two Survey Corps soldiers. What a shit show this turned out to be.

  
  


The trio were handcuffed and forced to kneel. The blonde whom he assumed was the leader of this group of Survey Corps soldiers, asked him who taught them how to use the vertical maneuvering gear. Levi made no effort to answer, choosing to look at the ground instead. He thought about what it would take to kill this man and escape with Isabel and Furlan. The blonde man continued to ask Levi questions and Levi’s only response was to send him a deadly glare. His silver grey eyes seemed to darken as every second went by but the blonde seemed unfazed by it. Out of nowhere the back of Levi’s head was grabbed by strong hands and he was forcefully pushed into a puddle of filthy water. He tried his hardest to make sure that the water didn’t get in his mouth but to his horror the dirty water had managed to get into his mouth. He grimaced and forcibly turned his head so that his steely grey eyes were glaring daggers at the man. The blonde man looked at Levi and asked him where he had learned how to use the vertical maneuvering gear. Isabel and Furlan were the ones to answer, telling the blonde soldier that they weren’t taught by anyone and that using the gear was the only way they could survive in a place like this. 

“Anyone who doesn’t know what sewage tastes like couldn’t understand,” Furlan explained. 

After having his head lifted from the filthy puddle he coughed out the water that had unfortunately made it into his mouth. He heard the blonde man say that his name was Erwin Smith. Levi made no move to show that he already recognized that name and neither did Isabel or Furlan. When asked what his name was Levi stayed silent once again fixing Erwin with a deadly glare. He gritted his teeth and stayed silent for a couple of seconds before telling Erwin that his name was simply Levi. Erwin kneeled in front of him asking casually “Would you make a deal with me?” Erwin’s deal seemed simple. Levi and his two friends were to join the Survey Corps and use their skills for the betterment of humanity and in return he wouldn’t ask them about their crimes. No one willingly joined the Survey Corps unless they were some sort of suicidal maniac, but as he considered the proposition asked, he realized that this was their only chance at getting out of this garbage dump. Things did look like they were going according to plan. Staring into Erwin’s blue eyes he accepted the proposition, “Very well...I’ll join the Survey Corps.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter because I didn’t like the way I had initially written it. I hope you enjoyed what I had and as always any comments or suggestions are much appreciated!


End file.
